1997-10-23 Agenda & Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Computer Software Team of Authorities Page 2 ID September 15, 1997 need to be replaced at a cost of approximately S2,000 each. Therefore the hardware upgrade to sufficiently manage the new software program would be S4,160. The cost of the software program is $2,000 for a total estimated cost of S6,160. ALTERNATIVE WAY OF SCHEDULING ASSOCIATION USES: During my visits to other cities I learned that both Roseville and Fridley Parks and Rec Departments handle youth associations in a way that takes much less staff time. Both cities simply give associations the use of designated fields and then those associations schedule their own practices and games on these fields. The associations simply provide the recreation staff with the information so that field maintenance can be scheduled. This certainly cuts down on staff time usually spent in field scheduling. We can implement this same procedure. I also collected examples of scheduling forms used by each city. The forms are all very similar, and similar to the system that our department used for years before the computer software system. A LITTLE HISTORY ON OUR PRESENT SCHEDULING SOFTWARE PROGRAM: This is the story behind the Mounds View Parks and Recreation computer system. With • computerization, software companies began to market programs that were applicable to recreation uses. One of the programs was RecWare which offers options for league scheduling, facility management, registrations system, etc. Our department already had a registration system, Student Manager, which was written for our use several years ago. Because it is a very good registration system, there was no need for Rec Ware registration software option. However, there was interest in the Rec Ware facility management software specifically for athletic field permit uses. Staff listened to all the sales pitches on the program and after budgeting approval, purchased the RecWare facility management software program. In retrospect, we really didn't do enough homework on the system. We were a leader in this area and there really was few cities in the area that had used the program, and therefore we really didn't have sufficient reference on the system. The system was sold to us under the premis that it would be quicker than the manual system and therefore more apt to be a process that the Athletic Supervisor could handle. On the contrary, the computer system takes longer than the manual method, is a disruption to tasks being done on a computer, the computer form is unfriendly and difficult to read, and an overall picture of uses of the parks is difficult to view on the computer whereas it is in a single glance on a manual form. It has been our experience that human errors can still be made even with the computer system. The computer system is expensive whereas the manual system costs no money. The computer software system is over$2,000 and hardware requirements are also necessary with an estimated cost of$4,160.